Volume 3 September 2018

Janmastami 2018

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A MESSAGE FROM THE GUEST EDITOR ............................................................................5

IS UNIVERSITY EDUCATION A SIN? ..................................................................................12

MASTHEAD ...............................................................................................................................4

SRILA PRABHUPADA'S WORDS ON HIGHER EDUCATION .............................................5

EMPIRICAL REALITY IN SĀŃKHYA PHILOSOPHY .........................................................13

A BHAGAVATA PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION ..................................................................7

HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS RELEVANT TO ISKCON ....................................19

TRADITION: A MUSEUM OBJECT? .......................................................................................9

NIOS (The North American Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies) ................................18

BORN IN, NOT BOUGHT IN ..................................................................................................14

GRADUATE STUDIES IN KRISHNA BHAKTI GROWING ................................................16

MISSION STATEMENT ............................................................................................................3

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................20

CALENDAR OF EVENTS .............................................................................................................20

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1. Empowering and supporting educational initiatives and collaborations among educators, educational institutions and professionals.

2. Establishing and monitoring high standards of Vaisnava education.

4. Understanding and fulfilling the educational needs of the Krsna conscious families.

5. Making every temple as an educational centre and a centre of excellence.

To develop comprehensive educational systems globally, that foster higher spiritual values, fulfil the needs of ISKCON members and the larger society bringing about excellence in all areas of human life. We aim to fulfil this mission by

3. Supervising the development and execution of educational plans and ensuring they are delivered to high standards and.

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Ministry Web Site: iskconeducation.org

First issue of the Journal was Janmastami 2017 with plans to publish four isues each year. It is driven out of North American and the Western Hemisphere but is aimed at serving the educational needs of ISKCON globally.

For more information please contact: Mitra Devi Dasi, viplavah.iskcon@gmail.com

Previous Issues at: http://iskconeducation.org/viplavah/

Guest Editor: Radhika Ramana Dasa (Prof. Ravi M. Gupta)

· H. G. Indira-sakhi Devi Dasi

Editorial Board:

· H. G. Rama-giridhari Das

Viplavah is a Journal of the Ministry of Education of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Founder Acharya His Divine Grace Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Core Committee: Hanumatpresaka Swami, Sesa Das, Atul-krsna Das, Rama-giri-dhari Das, Tapan-misra Das, Champaka-lata Devi Dasi, Indira-sakhi Devi Dasi,

Acting Editor: H. H. Hanumatpresaka Swami

Executive Director: Tapan-misra Das

Minister of Education: H. G. Sesa Das

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This issue of Viplavah focuses on higher education, including articles

by accomplished scholars and devotees who have dedicated much of

their careers to developing tertiary education. Their efforts and insights

are useful and relevant to ISKCON Education. This issue includes

thoughtful articles on philosophical topics such as music education,

Sāṅkhya and science, philosophy of education, the spiritual merits of a

university education, and a nuanced analysis of A.C. Bhaktivedanta

Swami Prabhupada's views on higher education. This issue also

includes reports on exciting developments in higher education,

including the founding of a new Dharma Studies Center at the Graduate

Theological Union in Berkeley, a youth mentoring program flourishing

in New Jersey, and recent conferences organized by the North

American Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies. We also include a

bibliography of useful books (many of them by Gaudiya Vaisnava

authors), a list of higher education institutions, and a calendar of events

that would be of interest to educators in ISKCON.

SRILAPRABHUPADA'SWORDSONHIGHEREDUCATION

Srila Prabhupada stressed that real knowledge is to know who we are, who God is and how can we reestablish our forgotten relationship with Him. He expressed dissatisfaction at the fact while universities were expending great efforts to teach material subjects, there was no emphasis on spiritual science.

Generally, people are not educated in this confidential knowledge; they are educated in external knowledge. As far as ordinary education is concerned, people are involved with so many departments: politics, sociology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, etc. There are so many departments of knowledge all over the world and many huge universities, but there is, unfortunately, no university or educational institution where the science of the spirit soul is instructed. Yet the

By Indira-sakhi Devi Dasi

By Rādhika Ramaṇa Dāsa

I have learned many things while editing this issue of Viplavah. In particular, I was surprised by the number of higher

education initiatives and projects that are developing in and around ISKCON. We hope that you will find this issue

thought-provoking and useful in your own work as an educator. We wish to thank all the contributors to this issue for

producing such interesting and useful articles, despite their busy writing and travel schedules. We are particularly

grateful to H.H. Hanumatpreṣaka Swami (Huber H. Robinson), who offered much guidance throughout the editing

process, drawing from his previous experience as Viplavah's editor. Finally, we wish to thank you, our learned readers,

and apologize for the shortcomings in this issue, which are entirely my own responsibility.

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The purpose of the Institute is to achieve the distinction of human life. The human being is meant for understanding his real identity. If a human being becomes entrapped with this body which may be American, Indian, brahmana, ksatriya, and so many other designations, then he remains on the platform of cats and dogs. A dog or a cat is thinking he is such and such. Similarly a human being thinks he is this and that designation, then he remains in the dog and cat category.

Srila Prabhupada also pointed out that according to Vedic culture 'higher education' meant spiritual education and therefore, only those who had the brahminical qualities, such as peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, etc. (as mentioned in Bhagavad-gita 18.42), were considered qualified to pursue it.

Please go on preaching and improve your Krishna Consciousness. There is no necessity of attending a university. We have got enough of a university educational program in our Krishna Consciousness movement. There are so many books to study and they have to be introduced also by preaching. So engage yourself in this way. If we have to spend time learning something, then where is the time for service? So utilize what talents you have already in Krishna's service and He will give you the intelligence to increase more and more. (Letter to Vamanadeva, Bombay 30 May, 1971)

soul is the most important part of the body; without the presence of the soul, the body has no value. Still people are placing great stress on the bodily necessities of life, not caring for the vital soul. (Bhagavad-gita As It Is, 9.2, purport)

He encouraged his disciples to establish an academic institute, the Bhaktivedanta Institute, which would focus on teaching the science of self-realization.

The Institute will be primarily for those who have not entered our temples. The subject matter will not be different from what is taught in our temples. There will be no difference between our temples and the Institute, but the Institute will be official for the general mass. It will be a formal education and they will get degree. It will be open for everyone, including those who have already entered our temples, they may also participate. But, the subject matter should not be different from what is in the temples. (Letter to Svarupa Damodara, Bombay 30 September, 1975)

Srila Prabhupada discouraged some of his disciples to go to university, particularly because of the detrimental effect of bad association, and recommended that instead they immerse themselves in studying scriptures and preaching.

For the present you should continue going to school because education is important. Without education nobody has any social position and all our students in Krishna Consciousness are expected to be preachers. So preachers must have sufficient education because they have to meet with so many opposing elements. Education should be continued at the same time chanting should be continued. There will be no difficulty. (Letter to Indira, Ekayani, San Francisco 17 December, 1967)

Higher education is not meant for everyone. Only selected individuals trained in brahminical culture should be allowed to pursue a higher education. Educational institutions should not aim to teach technology, for a technologist cannot properly be called educated. A technologist is a sudra; only one who studies the Vedas may properly be called a learned man (pandita). The duty of a brahmana is to become learned in the Vedic literature and teach the Vedic knowledge to other brahmanas. (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Adi-lila 17.253, purport)

You are an educated man and you can use your education very nicely in the service of Krishna. I like the idea of yours to continue on for PHD presenting our books and philosophy in your thesis. This will be a great service for you to perform and I shall be very grateful to you if you can do it. (Letter to Pierre Sauvageau, Honolulu, 2 February, 1975)

Yet, it cannot be said that he was against going to university under all circumstances, for in other cases, he encouraged devotees to go on with their studies and subsequently engage their talents and educational qualifications in spreading Krsna consciousness.

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ABHAGAVATAPHILOSOPHYOFEDUCATION

Philosophy as a field of study is generally divided into four branches: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics (or praxis), and aesthetics. Thus, for ease of organization, we will discuss philosophy of education from the perspective of India's classical Bhagavata tradition in these four areas. The foundational principles of education given below are drawn from the first three verses of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, which contain the essence of the entire Purāṇa.

The purpose of this short essay is to outline broad principles and purposes of education, not to delineate specific methods and strategies. Our thoughts here are preliminary and much more can be (and has been) said about this topic. Thus, we invite readers to modify and develop these ideas further.

All direct quotations (found in parentheses) are taken from the first three verses of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.1.1-3), and therefore no verse numbers are given here. We encourage the reader to carefully study Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda's translations and purports on these three verses before reading this essay. They are easily available at www.vedabase.com.

Aesthetics of Education

We begin with aesthetics because of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's conviction that pure love (prema) for Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate purpose of human life. Thus, it follows that the purpose of education, for adults and children, is to help them cultivate prema, which is both an aesthetic and rational experience. This love for Kṛṣṇa is already present within the individual's heart. The teacher need only reawaken the students' relationship with Kṛṣṇa (pibata bhagavatam rasam ālayam), and teach them to express that relationship through practical devotional service and good character.

By Rādhika Ramaṇa Dāsa (Prof. Ravi M. Gupta). Charles Redd Chair of Religious Studies, Utah State University

Vedic scriptures state, "Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of transcendental knowledge, side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death and enjoy the full blessings of immortality". (Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 11) In the purport, Srila Prabhupada explains that even though the ultimate aim of life is to attain transcendental knowledge, “[t]his does not mean that all activities for the maintenance of the body should be stopped.” Therefore, “the great sages and saints of India” followed “a balanced program of spiritual and material knowledge.” Srila Prabhupada was not against acquiring knowledge about material subject matters, but he emphasized that one should not be under the illusion that such knowledge is complete by itself, and that only when it is complemented with spiritual knowledge and practice may a person be known as truly learned.

He instructed his disciples who were attending university to continue their spiritual practice with all sincerity, which would not only protect them from sinful activities and bad association, but would also inspire others to follow their example.

You are asking what should your preaching work be now that you are attending the university. So the first preaching work is that yourself should become an ideal devotee. Lord Caitanya said that one should first make himself perfect and then attempt to instruct others. There is no point in telling another man to stop smoking if you yourself are smoking cigarettes. Even though you are mixing with all kinds of the student class at the university, you must strictly refrain from the four prohibitive sinful activities, and as an initiated student you must not let a day pass when you do not chant at least 16 rounds of Hare Krsna Mantra. If you can follow just these things nicely that in itself will be strong preaching by behavior. You should also always wear Kunti beads around the neck and wear the marking of tilak. People will inquire from you and you can tell them about Krsna Consciousness and sell them books also. (Letter to Niranjana, Hyderabad 23 April, 1974 74-04-23)

-Some Preliminary Thoughts-

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First and foremost, the symptom of an educated person is good character, and the most important element of character is compassion for other living entities (śivadaṁ tāpa-t r a y o n m ū l a n a m ) . T h u s , t h e Bhāgavatam defines knowledge as “reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all.” In other words, it is not enough for something to be factual; it must also be beneficial for others.

Ethics of Education

From a teacher's perspective, this means that he or she must meet the students where they are at, and tailor instruction to their individual needs, just as in later Cantos of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Nārada Muni taught Prahlāda and Dhruva in different ways. This requires helping students advance toward love for Kṛṣṇa, but also ensuring that they have the skills and knowledge needed to satisfy their material, temporal needs. This dual goal is best accomplished through the practice of dharma, namely, ethical action in this world based upon a

Epistemology of Education

All education, whether spiritual or material, requires the guidance of a teacher, or guru (śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam), who receives knowledge through a lineage of teachers. The relationship between teacher and student creates the circumstances that lead to knowledge. The student approaches the teacher with both humility and inquisitiveness, since neither blind following nor absurd inquiry are helpful. In return, the teacher helps the student develop powers of observation/experience, pratyakṣa (tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ vinimayaḥ), as well as strong reasoning skills, anumāna (anvayād itarataś ca), but most importantly, the ability to hear and reflect upon śāstra (tene brahma hṛdā). The teacher must model the abilities and qualities he or she wishes to cultivate in the student.

person's psycho-social nature. By diligently practicing their own dharmas in the world, students can advance toward the ultimate dharma, namely devotional service to the Supreme (dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramaḥ).

Metaphysics of Education

The teacher uses these methods in order to help the student distinguish reality from illusion (vedyaṁ vāstavam). This reality is Kṛṣna, the highest truth (satyaṁ param), along with His three energies—the spiritual world (dhāmnā svena), the material creation (janmādy asya yataḥ, yatra trisargo 'mṛṣā), and the living beings (dhīmahi), who are eternal spirit souls, distinct from matter. There, every student is by nature good at heart, even if they are conditioned by less-desirable, external qualities. In other words, the Bhāgavata asserts that there is an eternal, Absolute Truth that transcends and yet pervades the temporal reality of social, political, and historical contexts. Any educational system must acknowledge that although we can approach the Absolute Truth, we can never fully comprehend Him (muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ), for He is limitless.

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During my ten years of studies, I was taught that the original character of the quena, which is five thousand years old (Baumann, 1996), is “an opening where the soul gives the best of oneself; if the player doesn't have a cultivated spirit, the result will be poor” (Pariona, 2006, p. 28).

This article is a reflection on my experiences in learning musical traditions in four cultures: Latin America, Japan, India, and Europe. By describing what I learned through these different approaches to music, I suggest that music is an effective educational tool to develop one's whole personality.

Doing research on these instruments, I found several more interesting connections between the gradual development of self-realization and Andean music performance. The original character of the quena has long been expressed, even up to the present, through the dance of the quena-quenas of Patacamaya, a place in La Paz, Bolivia. Engraved stones depicting a dance of the pre-Inca culture of Tiahuanaco, in Bolivia, feature millenary teachings (as explained by Gisbert, 1988): (1) The feather art of the Aymara people from Altiplano, which is shaped like a rainbow on top of the dancer's head, represents the set of colors emanating from the activated chakras. (2) The dancers' breastplates, the skins of pumas (the chacapuma of Tiahuanaco) represent the inner warr ior who el iminates psychological vices and defects. (3) The quenas that solemnly blow the dancers represent the spine, whose secret centers of power can be activated by the quena's sounds, the Andean scales.

I was born in Peru in a family of practicing Catholics. I was strictly educated in a primary and secondary school run by Canadian Catholic priests. At the age of five, by observing, listening, and imitating (oral tradition), I began to play Latin folk music on both the quena (Andean end-blown flute) and the siku (Andean pan flute).

Because I was focusing every day, from my early childhood to teenage life, on being a better person by following the teachings of Jesus Christ, I always offered to him with devotion each sound I produced on the quena and siku, both during rehearsals (four hours daily) and at concerts (in prestigious auditoriums and theaters in Lima and on TV and radio shows). At age fourteen, I won first prize in the national music performance competition in Peru (professional level) organized by the Ministry of Education.

I was eager for self-realization, and I specifically wondered what God the Father's face and body look like.

When I was fifteen, a Japanese actress heard my solo concert and proposed that I further my career in Japan. I became a disciple of the Noh theater master Hideo Kanze, one of the most talented descendant-masters of the Kanze school, which was founded in the fourteenth century. As the director of my concerts, he taught me the inner strength to master the instruments (the quena and Japanese flutes). This took more than simply perfecting a technique to provide entertainment. He told me about the teachings of Zen Buddhism that were incorporated into the ritualization of Japanese music. These form a meditation on the unity of the mind, the instrument, and the body. Such meditation is an essential element in the mastery of every Japanese art. I was taught that it was through the practice of the arts (practical training) and not through rules or theory (like in the Catholic tradition) that morality, ethics, and human and spiritual values are learned.

Training the mind as well as the body results in important insights, habits, values, attitudes, and behavior, which lead to enlightenment (Davey, 2003). I focused on daily self-realization, and thus calmness and simplicity influenced my performance and the sound of my quena. The power of my concentration became stronger while performing. The mind remained in the present moment, aware of the temporary, illusory nature of material life.

Because of my integrating both traditions (the Andean and the Noh), and because I released solo albums (on Victor, JVC World Sounds) and played hundreds of concerts throughout Japan (sponsored by Sony Music) and on TV and radio shows, the Ministry of Culture in Japan considered me the world's most talented performer on the quena and the siku. After I was in Japan for five years, my master, Hideo Kanze, presented two future options: continuing a successful artistic career in Japan and soon in Europe, or doing research on the Indian cultural origins of the Zen Buddhism philosophy used in Noh.

At the age of nineteen, I chose the second option. I studied Vedic philosophy and Vaishnava music. The latter is an influential culture in the Indian musical tradition. For seven years, I was trained to be a celibate monk in the brahmacarya ashrams of Peru's and Denmark's ISKCON temples. As a full-time book distributor in Peru and

TRADITION:AMUSEUMOBJECT?

By Dr. Bhadra Rupa Dasa

Music's Role in Education and Human Development

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Regarding the nonlinguistic aspect of nada brahman, Shashank Subramanyam, one of the world's most outstanding Carnatic flute masters and my Carnatic flute teacher, said, “When the voice or the performance of any instrument is perfectly trained with all the notes of the Indian classical music—sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si in the Western version)—we will discover that these notes are variations of one note, which is nada brahman, or om.”

Bolivia, I made daily presentations and gave lectures on the Bhagavad-gita to more than 250,000 students at universities and institutes. During these studies, unexpectedly and magically, by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, I learned about the father of Jesus Christ (and Buddha): Krishna, the supreme flutist!

According to my research, musicologists state that the North and South Indian music traditions have roots in the Sama Veda, a vast collection of verses (sama). This is the musical version of the Rg Veda, set to melody and sung by singer-priests (Raghavan, 1962). The Chandogya Upanisad (attached to the Sama) presents the mystical and esoteric significance of saman singing. Through Vedic literature, musical sound and its profound theological significance lead to nada brahman, or sacred sound as the linguistic word and the nonlinguistic sound, or music (Beck, 1993).

Nada brahman, in its highest, personal manifestation, is known as the form of Janardana (Vishnu)—nada-rupah smrto brahma nada rupo janardana (Sharma, 1970). This notion of nada brahman was passed on in later Vaishnava works, such as the Vaishnava padavali compiled and edited by Sahitya Ratna Shri Hare Krishna Mukhopadhya.

In these works, I discovered an important contribution from the Vaishnava music culture to Western musical education: a system of rhythms (talas) and romantic melodic formats (ragas), with scientific forms between the notes and rhythms, which when sung along with mantras (such as the holy names of Krishna) have deep transcendental effects on the human emotional

Desiring to integrate the contributions of the four music traditions (Latin American, Japanese, Indian, and European cultures), I invented and patented a flute. The quena's headjoint is connected to the European transverse flute's body. Based on this invention, I obtained a Bachelor's degree of soloist and two Master's degrees (one in education and the other in the Sciences of Education) at Lund University in Sweden, where I studied for eight years. This was the first time in history (recognized by Lund University) that a musician earned a university degree based on a musical invention by the inventor, while the inventor was still alive.

After all these experiences, I asked myself, What is a tradition? To answer this question, I approached the University of Geneva in Switzerland and did a Ph.D. in the Sciences of Education (with a specialization in didactics) over the next five years. In the last seven years I have been a member of the research team in the Didactics of Arts and Movement (DAM) at the Faculty of Sciences of Education. My Ph.D. dissertation was recognized by this university as the first doctoral research in the history of

intelligence. The effects of these sounds and their precise repetition at exact intervals awaken a person's higher levels of consciousness by acting on the internal personality and transforming its sensibility, way of thinking, and the state of the soul—even one's moral character (Beck, 1993). Scholarly, enlightened, devotional artists and poets wrote Vaishnava songs, and thus the songs possess great literary value, which made them widely popular.

By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, flute associations in Sweden, America, the UK, and Australia have recognized me as one of the world's most talented flutists, for performing with this invented instrument in their gala concerts and in prestigious auditoriums and theaters worldwide. Multinational music companies such as Sony Music and Columbia Records from Japan released six of my solo albums (with some of my own compositions) featuring my flute invention as the soloist's instrument. For these accomplishments, the President of the Parliament of the Republic of Peru and the Mayor of the Municipality of Lima recognized and awarded my achievements.

After my Vaishnava devotional life experiences, I was drawn by curiosity to study the European transverse flute at the music conservatory in Copenhagen, Denmark, where only one flute student per year is accepted after a rigorous entrance examination. Three years of classical European music and jazz at this conservatory radically changed me. I discovered fidelity to writing and reading scores, or normative knowledge. The musical repertoire has been inspired by Western impersonalism, without a scientific approach. The experiences that I had there carried into the current work I do while performing the Western repertoire as principal flutist in a Swiss symphony orchestra in Geneva.

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education investigating the music didactics of an ancient, ancestral culture. While writing it, I realized that in the oral traditions from the three ancestral cultures I studied (Andean, Japanese and Vaishnava cultures), there are two different forms of transmission practices, because of two approaches: the ethno-musicological approach and the popular or folk music approach. The ethno-musicologist seeks to transmit a traditional way of performing (sonority) in a certain culture through scientific discourse. The popular or folk music approach is a practice that combines elements of the traditional music with an aesthetic taste coming from elements of Western European music. This is characterized by a national and political identity, with the “show” as a dimension.

These differences led me to conclude that a tradition is a historical construct. It is not pure nor is it a museum object, because all cultures are, to some degree, pervaded by cultural elements from other cultures (Girault, 1998). Tradition is alive and in constant transformation. Then what do we learn from the two approaches? We learn that the oral tradition of these ancestral cultures (Andean, Japanese and Vaishnava) manifests something alive precisely because of certain characteristics of its transmission practices.

I compared these characteristics with the practices I did as a student at Sweden's music conservatory:

(1) The ongoing practice and performance of scales (ragas), rhythms (talas), and the singing of mantras (names of Krishna) as melodic and rhythmical scientific-aesthetic forms in Vaishnava culture, together with scientific discourse and systematic training by the teacher, enhance the performer's musical expression by elevating the consciousness. In the music conservatories I frequented, the scales, rhythmical patterns, and lyrical messages lacked scientific spiritual principles therefore did not uplift the consciousness. Training for self-realization does not exist. (2) The use of dance, wherein the instrumentalist's steps are synchronized with the rhythm of the melody, is a simultaneous double function by the agent, who is the dancer and the instrumentalist. In the music conservatories, instrumentalists and singers do not dance.(3) “Learn to speak before reading”: first make music and only then understand how it is made. In the conservatories I frequented, the teacher begins with the systematic work of playing: position of the instrument, breathing, fingering, vibrato, etc. This is called the elementarization of knowledge.

In summary, while reflecting on the practices of transmission in oral traditions, I argued that the activities of a person, including one's musical activity, should be oriented to attain the perfection of life and the perfect goal of education: to revive our eternal relationship with God (as stated in Srila Prabhupada's edition of Srimad Bhagavatam 7.6.2). The music of these ancestral cultures, especially the Vaishnava culture, could be a model for society today,

Girault, Louis. (1998) Kallawaya guérisseurs itinérants des Andes, recherches sur les pratiques médicinales etmagiques. Paris: Editions de l'Orstom

wherein the formation of an individual's character takes priority while doing activities. In this case, the sound of music specifically could be a wonderful tool to educate a person about human values a nd spiritual principles, especially when it is used to chant the holy names of God.

Acknowledgement: I would like to thank Tattvavit Prabhu for editing this article.

Baumann, Max Peter. (1996) Cosmología y Música Andina. Madrid: Iberoamericana.

Gisbert, Teresa. (1988) Introduccion al estudio de las máscaras. Arte popular en Bolivia. La Paz: Instituto Boliviano de Cultura e Instituto Andino de Artes populares.

Bibliography

Davey, H.E. (2003) The Japanese Way of the Artist. Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press.

Raghavan, V. (1962) Sama Veda and music. Journal of the Music Academy of Madras 33:127-133.

Pariona, David. (2006) Method of quena concerning the theoretic part. Lima: Academy of Folk Music “Jose María Arguedas”.

According to the Vedic cosmic calendar, this kali yuga, or Iron Age, when the physical and mental condition of people declines, nullifies many of the available spiritual practices (sadhanas), such as the rigid hatha-yoga, which are difficult to perform. Therefore the chanting of the holy names of God (individually and congregationally, through japa and kirtan), specifically the Hare Krishna maha-mantra is the only and easiest way to attain the perfection of life. The sound of the maha-mantra checks the force of the current of thoughts moving toward sense objects, and it focuses the mind's movement toward Krishna, and the attainment of eternal happiness and knowledge.

Life is an art to live, and a work of art is like a window to the spiritual world through which we can express our personality, our sensibility, and our ability..

Beck, Guy. (1993) Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press.

Sharma, Prem Lata. Brihadeshi of Matanga. Indian Music Journal 6 (1970) 54–58; 7 (1971) 56–66.

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Bhadra Rupa Dasa was initiated by Jayapataka Swami in Chosica, Peru, in 1993. He won an ISKCON-Europe Excellence Award in 2015, for “the scientific presentation of Krishna Consciousness,” awarded by the Euro RGB. He is a member of the research team on the Didactics of Arts and Movement (DAM), Faculty of Sciences of Education at the University of Geneva, Switzerland where he got a Ph.D. in the Sciences of Education. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Peru's National University of Education (“Enrique Guzman y Valle”). He is the principal Professor of Flute on the Music Faculty of the International School of Geneva, Switzerland. He is a Sony Music Recording Soloist Artist flutist/composer, Japan and the principal flutist in the Chataigneraie Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland

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ISUNIVERSITYEDUCATIONASIN?

By H.H. Hanumatpresaka Swami

A gentleman who is involved in education in ISKCON, and for whom ISKCON functions as his religious institution was bemused when he made the decision to send his daughter for university studies. Some well meaning friends commented that going to the university was morally and religiously evil or contaminating. He asked us if we could write a little about this in this issue of Viplavah. As we began to discuss the topic a little we found that it is a common theme amongst many people who have a life in both the religious and academic worlds.

Coming down to very specific instances, we can recall our association with Dr. T. D. Singh, B. S. Damodara Swami, who was a doctorate in physical inorganic chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, a native of the extremely remote and traditional Indian State of Manipur and Director of the Bhaktivedanta Institute. He came

Suffice it to say herein that we see this dialog between science and religion still very active and it can be a very useful tool.

The scientific method can teach us nothing else beyond how facts are related to and conditioned by each other. The aspiration toward such objective knowledge belongs to the highest of which man is capable, and you will certainly not suspect me of wishing to belittle the achievements and the heroic efforts of man in this sphere. Yet it is equally clear that knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to knowledge of what should be. (QUANTUM QUESTIONS, pp 106, Ken Wilbur, Shambala, 1984, Italics ours).

Of course, there has been a broad history wherein the Catholic Church was also the center of learning about the physical world, God's creation, and the epistemology of knowledge descending from God through scripture and saints was fundamental. Then there was the so-called Cartesian Split in which the Church and intuition and authoritative knowledge went one way and the University and rational empiricism went the other way.

We expect that some practical discussion can roll-over into the next issue.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

PRINCE LOUIS DE BROGLIEThe great epoch-making discoveries of the history of science (think, for example, of that of universal gravitation) have been sudden lightning flashes, making us perceive in one single glance a harmony up until then unsuspected, and it is to have, from time to time, the divine joy of discovering such harmonies that pure science works without sparing its toil or seeking for profit. (Ibid pp 117)

from the foothills of the Himalaya mountains to U. C. Irvine but then encountered the Bengali Vaishnavism of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami's ISKCON which was traditional to his native Manipur for centuries. He wanted to chuck his laboratory science and become a full-time religious monk, but Srila Prabhupada, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, forced him to finish his Doctorate.

· If you want to communicate esoteric religious ideas to scientifically educated people in the modern world then the Doctorate or such diplomas show that you have a grasp of their knowledge, epistemology, and traditional community.

· Just for making a living, a university education in science, medical technology, history, law or education are valuable.

· Many useful things can develop from a Synthesis of Science and Religion. Look on the web for Vedabase.com, Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto One, Chapter Five, Text 22

( ) http://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/1/5/22

- September 2018

13

EMPIRICAL REALITY IN SĀŃKHYA PHILOSOPHY

By Ashish Dalela (Ṛṣirāja dāsa)

The ideas in Sāńkhya can be easily grasped by looking at how a digital photograph encodes reality. The picture of a landscape is not that landscape, and yet it encodes pixels about that landscape in RGB color formats. The atoms that store this picture on a computer disk are symbols of meaning—RGB colors—which are converted into a picture by a computer display. The reality in this case is the digital photograph, and the image you see on the display is the experience. The photograph is not the experience, and yet, the photograph encodes the symbols that create the experience.

The material world in Sāńkhya is the encoding of our sensations—taste, touch, smell, sound, and sight—and atoms of this reality are like the pixels encoding the RGB colors. If you objectively measured parts of the digital photographic file, you can see binary digits (in atomic theory these are up or down spin states). But if you interpreted the file according to the linguistic convention in which it is encoded, you will see a landscape. The difference between measuring and interpreting depends on viewing the world as things vs. symbols. Symbols are also things, but symbols encode meaning that things don't.

The difference between phenomena and reality is essential to demarcating illusion from fact. Early empiricists such as John Locke, however, treated all phenomena as an illusion. For example, the world in empiricism is not hot or cold; it is temperature. A body moves not fast or slow; it has a speed. Objects are not heavy or light; they have a mass. In modern empiricism, all perception—e.g. heavy, fast, or hot—is an illusion. Since we must rely on perception to even perform measurements, to make empiricism work in science, our senses are used to perceive the pointer movements on measuring instruments—thermometer, speedometer, or a weighing scale—instead of directly perceiving reality. The choice of measuring instrument becomes the foundation of empirical truth, but the basis of this choice, and how it can be justified remains out of bounds of empiricism. In this essay I will describe an alternative empiricism drawn from Sāńkhya philosophy in which hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, and smelling are the only empirical instruments, and nature encodes properties for these instruments.

The Encoding of a Picture

If we look at the picture as a thing, then we will see a single three dimensional reality. But if we see the same picture as the encoding of meanings, then there are many tiers of semantic realities embedded in that same three-dimensional world. Sāńkhya contends that to decode these realities from the picture, we need different types of measuring instruments: senses, mind, intellect, ego, morality, etc. Each instrument measures the same

The World is a Picture

Scientific empiricism measures the bits, but Sāńkhya empiricism interprets the picture as a symbolic encoding of sensation. To understand reality we have to know all the types of meanings. Sāńkhya describes at least six meaning types; these include sensations (color, tone, shape, pitch, etc.) which are called tanmātra, the senses which aggregate sensations into an instrument (e.g. color, shape, distance, are aggregated into sight), the mind which gives the perception an object-concept (e.g. that the red round thing is an apple), the intellect which judges if the cognition is true (based on prior assimilation), the ego which establishes the relation between the object and the self (e.g. that this my apple), and a moral sense (called mahattattva) which judges if my ownership perception is moral.

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BORNIN,NOTBOUGHTIN

14

world, but produces a different kind of meaning. Like a literate person can laugh and cry on reading a book, but the illiterate person will only measure the length and weight of the book, similarly, perceptual advancement reveals greater content in the same world.

The Explanation of Illusion

Just as you can read a book and not understand the meaning, or understand it incorrectly, similarly, the senses can also misinterpret reality. The senses can magnify some aspects of reality and obfuscate others. Even the person who sees a snake in a rope, is not entirely mistaken, although the mistake is due to the observer's senses. Unlike scientific empiricism which views all perception as illusory, in Sāńkhya, even under illusion, there is an inkling of reality. To know reality is to perceive greater and greater parts of reality correctly, and knowledge is certified true only when the complete truth is known.

Like correct perception, illusion is also a multi-tiered problem. The senses can incorrectly perceive a color; the mind can incorrectly attribute an object-concept; the intellect can misjudge the truth of cognition; and the ego can misattribute the ownership of the perceived reality. These are respectively called imperfect senses, illusory cognition, committing mistakes, and cheating propensity.

The Reality of Meaning Forms

We are accustomed to seeing forms through the senses, but the mind, intellect, ego, and the moral sense also perceive forms. For instance, when the mind cognizes an 'apple' in something that is not perfectly red, round, and sweet, it compares the observation to an ideal form of the apple the mind (our ideal may not be truly ideal, but it is still our ideal). When the intellect judges the truth of a claim, it compares the meanings to some beliefs of truth (our beliefs may not be true, but they are still our beliefs). When the moral sense judges the morality of an action, it compares the perceived morality with our own ideal form of morality—e.g. truthfulness, cleanliness, kindness, and simplicity.

The world is populated with innumerable meaning forms, and the deeper recesses of the observer comprise these forms—which Jung called the 'collective unconscious'. Of course, the ideals in each person can be different, but there is nobody without personal ideals. Regulated spiritual practices transform the non-ideal into the ideal, and the advanced spiritualist perceives the ideal forms in the external world, because s/he has learnt that there is more to see than seen by the senses.

By Gopika-Kanta Dasi (Gopika Sharma) Professional Teacher

A Second Generation's Perspective on Youth Education in ISKCON

I am a second generation devotee who went to public

school. I excelled as a devotee child by reciting verses,

knowing philosophy, singing bhajans, and leading temple

activities. I also succeeded in school. I received straight A's

and participated in a variety of extracurricular activities. At

school, I would never answer questions about my own

religious beliefs. I also never shared with my school

friends that I was heavily involved with the local ISKCON

temple. I feared that my school friends would think that the

temple was weird. I didn't know whether our philosophy

and rituals meant anything to mainstream society. I

operated seamlessly in my two separate universes. During

my first semester of university, however, I began to attend

the local Bhakti Club meetings. At one meeting, the kirtan

leader asked me to play kartalas (hand cymbals).

Immediately, a surge of anxiety welled in my chest and I

quickly passed the karatalas to someone else.

Does this puzzle you? It certainly puzzled me at the

time. I spent my entire life immersed in the culture of

Krishna Consciousness. I could recite dozens of verses.

I spent the summer studying Bhakti Sastri. I led kirtan

many times, yet was unable to play kartalas for a simple

university program. How was that possible? The power

of the double life blind sighted me. Nothing was ever a

problem externally. I was happy and successful on all

fronts until the moment at the club. That moment forced

me to confront the chasm between my lives, the true

internal problem of a double life. My two worlds

collided, and I had no idea how to handle the crash. I

may have been born into the movement, but as yet, I had

not confidently bought into it.

While this was my experience, the majority of second

generation youth utilize a double life strategy that

- September 2018

15

How can we emphasize meaning over memorizing?

One way is through the incorporation of current events

into discussion. For example, should a secondary school

student protest a controversial election or attend a

Bhakti Vriksha program? One could argue that devotees

should not interfere in government affairs and simply

focus on the yuga-dharma of Harinam Sankirtan. On the

other hand, if an elected official threatens human rights,

then one may argue that it is our duty as citizens to

ultimately becomes unsustainable. The story of identity

crisis and experiences of cognitive dissonance are

rampant among second generation youth. Therefore, as

a current Sunday School educator in ISKCON of New

Jersey who specifically works with adolescents, I've

embarked on a journey to answer this question: How can

ISKCON communities bridge the gap for second

generation teenagers operating in two vastly different

realities? How can we get them to buy in? I personally

feel that Krishna Conscious education needs to

prioritize an experience of meaning over memorizing,

especially during the delicate phase of adolescence. It is

during adolescence that questions of identity and core

beliefs surface. When youth understand the relevance of

philosophy and have the space to explore doubts, the

gap between their two worlds begins to close. They

begin the journey of solidifying their beliefs instead of

merely playing the part of a perfect devotee.

oppose such leadership. Posing such dilemmas helps to

explore philosophy in a real and complex way.

Another way to prioritize meaning is through

experiential learning. For example, in our class, we

asked students to throw darts at pictures of their loved

ones in order to support their understanding of

Arjuna's dilemma. As the students held their darts,

they truly empathized with Arjuna, and the Gita took

on a new personal and relatable meaning. When we

discussed Gajendra's story, we surprised students with

a loud gunshot recording. We asked them to reflect on

their last thoughts upon hearing such a frightful sound.

Even though the students were completely safe, this

simulation and experience of true fear allowed them to

observe the difficulty of remembering Krishna at the

time of death. Once they experienced this, we

discussed the practice of prayer in an authentic and

real way as opposed to merely in the theoretical

context of Gajendra's story. When reviewing

Bhagavad Gita 6.19, we challenged students to create

a Lego fort that would create a windless environment

for an actual candle. Students built a variety of

structures to protect the lit flames, which represented

their minds. After this hands-on experience, students

excitedly shared their thoughts on how this activity

could teach us about practically protecting our minds

from the winds of life.

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16

A final way of prioritizing meaning over memorizing

is by creating a space for students to explore their own

beliefs. We often explain philosophy to our students

but don't challenge them to think for themselves. Once

we asked all our students who they truly were. All of

them simultaneously recited the line “We are not this

body, but we are the soul.” When we challenged our

group of teenagers to prove it, their faces fell silent and

they could not articulate why they believed what they

did. We then shared with them that they would have to

defend their beliefs to a group of scientists and local

businessmen. They quickly began to analyze the core

philosophical principle of the soul in the context of

their lives. We had local congregation members dress

up as scientists and businessmen to come and mock

debate our students. It was through discussion and

simulated debate that our students gained confidence.

They began the journey of embracing the philosophy

for themselves, rather than merely parroting it back.

Often, Krishna Conscious education for youth stresses

memorization. Educators prioritize breadth over depth

due to a desire to teach our children everything written in

Srila Prabhupada's books. We praise our children for

answering philosophical questions and give high

applause for perfectly reciting verses from the Bhagavad

Gita or Bhagavatam. While these accomplishments are

A classic marketing principle states that it takes six times

the amount of effort to earn a new customer than retain an

old one. All those growing up in ISKCON are old

customers of Krishna Consciousness. By the time they

reach adolescence, they have learned the philosophy,

lived the culture and understood the mission of Srila

Prabhupada. It would take a new devotee adult years to

catch up to the level of understanding of a second

generation teenager. If we are able connect our youth to

the profound relevance of Krishna Consciousness, just

imagine the army of inspired leaders who would

exponentially and innovatively take ISKCON to new

heights. After all they are masters of both worlds. All that's

left for us to do, as educators, is to bridge the gap.

certainly commendable, they come at an expense.

Overemphasis on learning philosophy over personally

experiencing Krishna Consciousness in a heart

transforming way fuels the double life conundrum.

When preaching our philosophy, we put in a great deal

of thought in how to make our philosophy persuasive,

valuable and relevant for our audience. Our children

born into the movement require and deserve the same

level of thought. In the end, it is not what they know

about Krishna Consciousness, but how they feel about it

that will influence their heart's commitment.

- September 2018

GRADUATESTUDIESINKRISHNABHAKTIGROWING

By Dr. Graham M. Schweig, Professor Christopher Newport University, Virginia Distinguished Research and Teaching Fellow The Mira & Ajay Shingal Center for Dharma Studies The Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley.

The Graduate Theological Union (GTU), one of the most renowned institutions of higher learning on religion in the world, established The Mira & Ajay Shingal Center for Dharma Studies, created by and headed up by Rita D. Sherma, several years ago. This Center established master and doctoral programs in Hindu studies. It is the first time in the history of its institution that GTU now has Hindu traditions represented along with its excellent array of various

As of recently, I now hold two academic teaching positions: one at Christopher Newport University, Virginia, as Professor of Religion and Director of Studies in Religion, and the other at GTU in Berkeley. Currently, I have one doctoral student in Vaishnava studies, and several master's degree students. A year ago, I was invited to be part of the faculty, joining Purushottama Billamoria along with Rita D. Sherma, as Distinguished Research and Teaching Fellow of the Center and the director of new programs in these three areas: (1) Vaishnava Studies, (2) Yoga Studies, and (3) Pastoral Studies. Amazingly, devotees who are academically qualified can now earn a master's degree or even a doctoral degree in Krishna Bhakti theology from GTU!

schools and centers representing the other major world religions.

MY CURRENT BOOK PROJECTS

My book published in 2005 by Princeton University Press, Dance of Divine Love: The Rāsa Līlā of Krishna from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, remains in print as a 450 page hardcover book. Now, Oxford University Press, New York, is going to publish a softcover version of the book of half its length, with the title, The Yoga of Love: Sacred Bhakti Poetry from the Rāsa Līlā of Krishna. I am also currently completing my translation and interpretation of Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra, which will be published by Yale University Press. In this work, I show how Patañjali's great work is actually a book that is saturated with Bhakti through and through. Additionally, I have been working on an introductory book on Hinduism entitled, Seeing and Seeking: The Divine in Hinduism: An introduction to the visions, experiences, and the way of life in Hindu traditions (likely to be published by Yale University Press).

Among these and other book projects, I am producing the world's first BHAGAVAD GĪTĀ COMPREHENSIVE

FUTURE ACADEMIC CONFERENCES IN THE MAKING

Specifically, the theological, ethical, social dimensions will be addressed, and also the legal and professional aspects of publishing will be considered. The specific instance of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and the extensive posthumous editing of his work will be the major focus of this conference. In the Hare Krishna movement, a controversy has been building for at least two decades regarding the editing of Śrila Prabhupada's books: after Śrila Prabhupada's departure from this world, the principal editors claim that his works need fairly extensive editing, both for style and philosophical clarity and consistency, while there are other senior disciples who object to anything more than the absolute minimal editing.

CONCORDANCE: With Supporting English and Sanskrit Word References. This reference work will be invaluable for scholars, lay readers, as well as practitioners of the devotional life. The various Bible translations (as many as twelve!) have received concordances; the Qur'ān has at least three; the works of D.H. Lawrence have a concordance; John Milton's Paradise Lost has a concordance, Shakespeare's works have at least one concordance . . . So why not the third most read sacred text in the world, namely, the Bhagavad Gītā?

I am putting together a symposium conference entitled, “On the Challenges of Posthumous Editing: Focus on the Works of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda,” which will be held at and hosted by The Mira & Ajay Shingal Center for Dharma Studies at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, in February of 2020. This conference will bring together about fifteen scholars to examine how the posthumous editing of leading authors within religious communities has been handled and to look at how it could be or should be handled.

17 - September 2018

18

NIOS(TheNorthAmericanInstituteforOrientalandClassicalStudies)

TakingtheBestfromthePasttoUseinthePresenttoBuildaBetterFuture

By H.H. Hanumatpresaka Swami

Specifically, in collaboration with the prestigious Indian National Museum, Kolkata, in May 2012, a three day seminar on The Contribution of Ancient India Toward Making a Better World was organized. The event was inaugurated by former Justice of the Supreme Court of India, the Honorable Mukundakam Sharma, and two former Governors of West Bengal, and was pressed with attendance for specific topics on Medicine, Education, and Philosophy that followed for the next two days.

Prof. H. H. Robinson (Hanumatpresaka Swami), lamenting that there was not an academic institution in ISKCON that related to such areas as cultural anthropology, as the Bhaktivedanta Institute related to physical sciences, combined with Dr. Ravi P. Singh and other distinguished academics to form NIOS. Since then it has published three major academic volumes, many distinguished videos and organized many equally potent symposia, seminar and colloquia.

Incorporated in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 2007, NIOS (The North American Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies), has had an interesting history and a bright future. A list of Officers, Directors and distinguished Advisory Board is at its website: .www.niosnimubus.org

Every year there have been events in Peru with San Marcos University (along with the University of Mexico the oldest university in the Western Hemisphere), the Peruvian National Library and others on Art and the Sacred, Psychology and the Sacred, interfaith dialogues, and three years of Bharatiya Sanskriti, Classical Indian Culture involving art, music, philosophy, history, science.

With Ramanan Nagarajan and Goloka Education, NIOS is now developing curriculum and institutions for Sanskrit Centric Education and continuing work in such areas as Carl Jung and the Bhagavata, Two Princes: Hamlet and Arjuna and locally promoting gorgeous cultural events such as Viva Kultura in Nashville.

Its flagship journal is Solaris which will be released in its third edition October 2018. Please visit our website and give it the help it obviously needs for this exciting and penetrating work.

- September 2018

19

HIGHEREDUCATIONINSTITUTIONSRELEVANTTOISKCON

(InAlphabeticalOrder)

Avanti Schools Trust

Berkeley, California, USA

Govardhana Ecovillage

Centro Studi Bhaktivedanta

www.centrostudibhak�vedanta.org

www.bhak�vedantacollege.com

www.brcinda.com

(in partnership with Cambridge University)

h�ps://bhak�vedantacollege.com/tag/budapest/

Bhaktivedanta Institute

Bhaktivedanta College

Bhaktivedanta College

Berkeley, USA and Mumbai, India

Bhaktivedanta Research CenterKolkata, West Bengal, India

Bhaktivedanta Vidyapitha

Radhadesh, Durbuy, Belgium

Budapest, Hungary

www.avanti.org.uk

www.bvinst.edu

Wada, Maharashtra, Indiah�p://www.vidyapitha.in/

Center for Dharma StudiesGraduate Theological Union

h�ps://www.gtu.edu/centers/cds

Ponsacco, Italy

Michael Cremo

North American Institute for Oriental and Classical StudiesMurfreesboro, Tennessee, USAwww.niosnimbus.org

+44 (01865) 304300

Rupanuga Vedic CollegeKansas City, Missouri, USAwww.rvc.edu

h�p://www.mcremo.com/

Oxford Centre for Hindu StudiesOxford, Englandwww.ochs.org.uk

- September 2018

20

SELECTEDBIBLIOGRAPHY

Okita, Kiyokazu. 2014. Hindu Theology in Early Modern South Asia: The Rise of Modernism and the Politics of Genealogy. Oxford University Press.

McLuhan, Marshall and Quentin Fiore. 1967. The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects. Bantam Books.

Spolin, Viola. 1963. Improvisation for the Theater: A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques (Drama and Performance Studies). Northwestern University Press.

Schweig, Graham M. 2005. Dance of Divine Love: India's Classic Sacred Love Story. Princeton University Press.

Mabbett, Ian W, ed. 2012. Prācyaprajñāpradīpa: Professor Dr. Samaresh Bandyopadhyay Felicitation Volume on Early Indian History and Culture. North American Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies.

Valpey, Kenneth R. 2013. Attending Krishna's Image: Chaitanya Vaishnava Murti Seva as Devotional Truth. Routledge Press.

Gupta, Ravi M. and Kenneth R. Valpey. 2016. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa: Selected Readings. Columbia University Press.

Edelmann, Jonathan. 2012. Hindu Theology and Biology: The Bhagavata Purana and Contemporary Theory. Oxford University Press.

Goswami, Tamal Krishna. 2012. A Living Theology of Krishna Bhakti: Essential Teachings of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Oxford University Press.

Singh, T.D. and Ravi A. Gomatam. 1988. Synthesis of Science and Religion: Critical Essays and Dialogues. Institute of Vaisnava Studies.

Haberman, David, trans. 2002. The Bhaktirasamrtasindhu of Rupa Gosvamin. Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.

CALENDAROFEVENTS

18 – 20 January 2019, Conference on Consciousness in Science, Gainesville, USA www.consci19.org

24 – 27 October 2018, Symposium on Art and the Sacred, National Library, Lima, Peru www.niosnumbus.org

17 – 20 November 2018, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Denver, USA

26 – 27 February 2019, ISKCON Ministry of Education Global Symposium, Mayapur, India www.iskconeducation.org

- September 2018